A new year will bring new pop stars. But in the early days of 2013, music fans can only look to the big names they know -- acts who’ve released desert-island picks, best-selling discs. (Or maybe they just made Twitter’s trending topics some time in 2012.) With that in mind, here are the major pop records we’ll be waiting for in 2013.

THE BIG ONES

Arcade Fire - TBA

You probably knew who the Arcade Fire was in 2011. (We'll give you that much credit.) But if you didn't, you'd heard all about the Montreal band by the end of the year. Winning top honours at the Grammys, the Junos, the BRITs, etc. will do that -- as they did with their 2010 album The Suburbs. With an audience that now sprawls into more homes than ever, a new Arcade Fire record is going to be an event on a scale it has never been before, and the band hasn't slacked on perfecting the project. Reports from last year suggested the group has been in studio for months -- and that some of that time included a visit from old friend James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. A fall interview with their manager revealed enough songs for two albums have been prepared -- though only a precious few people had heard the material. (The band debuted a few new songs at a secret Montreal show last year; there were no recording devices inside, so you'll have to pretend it's 1997 and wait for more intel.)

Beyonce, TBA - Spring 2013

The Queen B is booked for the Super Bowl February 3, so take it from producer The-Dream: fans should expect "a couple records [...] before the Super Bowl gets here." That's what the producer told Billboard a few weeks back -- and fans can also expect a new Beyonce movie before winter ends; she'll direct a documentary (about herself) for HBO, and it's due to air Feb. 16. As for new music, recent rumours have suggested the possibility of a first single called Ratchet. True or false, Beyonce's been in studio since the summer, calling in friends old and buzzworthy -- Kanye West, Ryan Tedder, Miguel, Jay-Z -- though it's unclear whether these guys will actually appear on the record, or if they just turned up to Instagram the proceedings. Whatever the end product sounds like, the maternity leave is over.

Lady Gaga, ARTPOP - Spring 2013

In a few short years, her ladyship has made an art of over-hype, so the dossier on her third studio album is as over-the-top and all-over-the-place as, well, a Lady Gaga record. In November, the pop star Tweeted that she has written "like 50 songs" for the album -- and during the summer dates of her world tour, she debuted new material both in concert (Princess Die) and on the street. (Gagz may be the first pop star to preview tracks to fans via her own car stereo.) Once she's decided what makes the final cut, she might release the collection as a "multimedia experience." She's suggested via her Little Monsters site that she'd like to put out two-volumes of material: one half would be a pop record, the other half would be an app. A sequel to her mega-hit Telephone has been teased -- Beyonce has a new record on the way, too, in case you'd care to do some wishful thinking -- as have collaborations with Azealia Banks and Kendrick Lamar. And it seems whatever results, the album will arrive with an accompanying documentary, helmed by Gaga's "Uncle" Terry Richardson. Watch for more inevitable hints of what's to come when Gaga launches the North American leg of her tour Jan. 11 in Vancouver.

THE LONG-AWAITED DEBUTS

The Wanted, Third Strike (rumoured title) - Spring 2013

They've got the hits, the screaming fans. (Hi, Lindsay Lohan!) So where's the album? The pop group says you should sit tight 'til Spring. 2012 could have wrapped with the English/Irish boy band's North American debut. (They've put out two LPs overseas since 2010.) But as the group told Canada.com in December, they were unhappy with the results ("I think it was just very run of the mill, sort of dance-ish pop," Nathan Sykes said). Lest we forget, there's a boy-band war going on; so quality matters. The group chanced scrapping their record-in-progress so they could go in for rewrites, pushing the release to the spring. But all their work -- and all those previously reported collaborations (LMFAO! Rita Ora!) -- might not go to waste. As Tom Parker recently told Billboard: I think we're going to do two albums, one in April and one towards the end of the year, because we've written quite a lot of songs." Two records in one year? Somebody's taking a cue from One Direction...

Azealia Banks, Broke with Expensive Taste - Feb. 13

Following a 2012 mixtape (Fantasea) and EP (1991), everyone and Karl Lagerfeld will see whether this sass-mouthed, "Yung" Rapunzel-haired MC can make good on more than a year of buzz and beef. New song BBD (or Bad Bitches Do It) was recently Tweeted out by the 21-year-old as a New Year's Day present.

THE LONG-AWAITED RETURNS

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TBA - Spring 2013

Karen O, Brian Chase and Nick Zinner have tossed us the occasional bone and/or Led Zeppelin cover since 2009's It's Blitz, but none as promising as one mysterious Tweet that surfaced in mid-December, promising "DNA upgrades, spontaneous evolution and NEW YEAH YEAHS RECORD ARRIVING SPRING 2013!" No word what this "DNA upgrade" will entail. (It's Blitz swapped their frenetic guitar sound for synths; will the "evolution" actually involve a devolution back to those old tricks?) Only one fresh song has been previewed so far, a tune called Despair which the band debuted during a Hurricane Sandy benefit in December. (Spin described it as "a spare thumper that recalled Florence and the Machine's Dog Days Are Over." They also called it "melancholy," in case the title wasn't enough of a tip-off.) They're booked for a January tour of Australia, though, so further hints of their sonic mutation should be imminent.

The Knife, Shaking the Habitual - April 9

Seven years hasn't dulled the impact of the Swedish brother/sister duo's last record, Silent Shout, an eerie electronic collection that was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2006 and the arguable precursor for the current generation of haunting and wintry outfits (please see Purity Ring). Little is known about their new project so far, though a teaser video involving swingsets and quasi-futuristic fashion has already out-ARTPOPped anything Lady Gaga could dream up.

Beck - TBA

Modern Guilt, the alt-pop experimentalist's last album, came out in 2008. (Sorry, we're not counting December's Song Reader, the album fans had to perform themselves.) This year, though, Beck might doubly make it up to those who can't sight read. "There is music and it's coming!" he told NME in January, revealing that two albums could potential surface before 2013 closes, including one he says he "recorded last year in Nashville."

SUPERGROUPS ASSEMBLE!

Atoms For Peace, Amok - Feb. 25

In 2009, Radiohead's Thom Yorke assembled Flea and Mauro Refosco (Red Hot Chili Peppers), R.E.M's Joey Waronker and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich to back him during a run of solo shows in Los Angeles. The backing band transformed into a supergroup -- one who's debut, Amok, arrives in February. Godrich, who produced the disc, told Rolling Stone that the band approached the project like they were making a jazz record. The result? Something he described as a "blurring" of electronic and organic sound. Lead single, Default, could be more simply described as "a Radiohead song." But that won't dissuade legions from checking this out.

G.O.O.D. Music, Cruel Winter - TBA

Cruel Winter is coming -- or at least another compilation of tunes from Kanye West's expanding "Clique." Q-Tip was the first to suggest 2012's Cruel Summer would get a follow-up record -- intel he shared no sooner had that particular disc arrived. Others including Big Sean have continued to confirm that there's more G.O.O.D. stuff on the way, though a release date has yet to be announced.

AS SEEN ON REALITY TV

Britney Spears - TBA

It seems the Britney bot is nearly recharged, and ready for her pop return. For the last few months, Spears's Twitter feed has been sending out occasional alerts reminding fans that she's plugged into the studio, working away on Femme Fatale's follow-up. Judging The X Factor isn't taking up all her free time, it seems -- that recent collab with will.i.am, Scream and Shout, was another reminder of that. That Black Eyed Pea is reportedly involved in the new album project -- but getting will.i.am on a Britney Spears track is an idea that's just oh-so 2000 and late. Entertainment Weekly broke news of a more intriguing partnership: Brit's recruited Hit-Boy, the producer who helmed Cruel Summer stand-out Clique, Kanye West and Jay-Z's N****s in Paris, Kendrick Lamar's Backseat Freestyle. This better make Spears a member of West's G.O.O.D. Music crew by association. Still, fans should be patient; EW reports that the record is still in the planning stages.

Mariah Carey, TBA - Spring 2013

In August, the new American Idol judge resurfaced with the ballad Triumphant (Get 'Em) and a video that saw the diva playing ring-girl to her guest artists Rick Ross and Meek Mill. But with reaction to the single muted (it couldn't crack the US Hot 100) it'll be curious to see whether Carey will emerge, fists raised, when her 14th studio album finally drops. In September, Carey told Ryan Seacrest that she was still writing the record. "You never know what it's going to end up being," she said on Seacrest's radio show, adding that she hoped it would be complete "around January." (In August, Billboard reported it's "tentatively due in March 2013.") Whenever it arrives, Carey has a busier than usual year ahead of her, with an upcoming movie (Lee Daniels' The Butler) and that aforementioned Idol gig.

REINVENTIONS

Miley Cyrus, TBA - Early 2013

New hair, new you. If Hannah Montana taught a generation of Tweens anything, it's that something as simple as a haircut (or blonde pop-star wig) can change a person's life. It's a philosophy that seems to apply to the real HM, Miley Cyrus. Or maybe it's just that her platinum buzzcut reminded the world that she's still out there, shining on like a crazy little diamond, and that the girl has a new record on the way. That disc is expected in early 2013, Billboard reported in September. (She told MTV News that she wants to get it out before marrying her Hunger Games fiance Liam Hemsworth.) And what she's working on isn't what you'd hear on the Disney Channel. "I wanna make a sick record," Cyrus told Billboard in the fall. "Sick" sounds like hip-hop, apparently, because Cyrus has reportedly recruited producers including Pharrell Williams and Hit-Boy. "I wanted more of that dirty-South vibe, a little ATL in there," she explained to Huffington Post in the fall. But the pop star has also suggested a bunch more points of reference. She told Rolling Stone that a trip to New Orleans turned her on to more vintage sounds. "I got into the older Motown Sound vibe, which is really fun to mix with this country pop sound. I listened to a lot of Irma Thomas and tried to get that old soul into it, too," she said. Like so many 20-year olds, her music collection is getting increasingly diverse -- something that's been apparent from her "Backyard Sessions" series of teaser videos released through her website, clips that have featured Cyrus covering singer-songwriters including Dolly Parton. Sick.

Jonas Brothers - TBA

Four years might not seem that long, but since the Jonas Brothers released Lines, Vines and Trying Times in 2009, the sibs have managed to pursue solo projects, TV stardom (reality and otherwise) and Broadway. As for their fanbase, if the kids haven't outgrown tween-pop yet, they've probably wallpapered their lockers umpteen times since the JoBros' last magazine cover, what with the coming of Bieber, One Direction, et cetera. After a few 2012 concert dates and awards show appearances, it seems that a new album will follow in 2013. Nick Jonas told Digital Spy on the MTV EMAs red carpet that the disc will "infuse classic influences with some of the more modern influences." So, a Jonas Brothers record, then. But a slightly more grown-up one? Wedding Bells, a new tune the band debuted live in late 2012, reheats the Nick Jonas/Miley Cyrus relationship gossip of a now bygone tabloid era. (Jonas confirmed the song is about his engaged, ex-sweetheart.) Is the world ready to remember the good old days...of 2010? Find out later this year.

Katy Perry, TBA - Summer 2013

She dominated the summer of 2011 with Teenage Dream -- plus the summer that followed, and all other seasons in between. (According to AP, Perry was the most-played act on U.S. radio in 2012.) MTV reports a new record is expected by summer 2013, but don't expect this one to "melt your popsicle" with sunny beats. "My music is about to get real f***ing dark," she told the Sun last year. The pop star went through a bit of a goth makeover in 2012, swapping whipped-cream bikinis for dark lace and purple manic panic. Still, break-up hit Wide Awake was about as scary as a sparkly Twilight vampire. But who knows? Perry's a self-avowed Alanis fangirl. Maybe this record will include a You Oughta Know for the 2010s. When your marriage tanks in a year, and you're dating John Mayer, a girl's got to make lemonade.

ROCK RETURNS

The Black Keys - TBA

The duo's last album, El Camino, arrived in December 2011, earning them a few platinum singles (Lonely Boy, Gold On the Ceiling), five 2013 Grammy nods (including Album of the Year) and the envy of everyone -- or maybe just Pizza Hut and Home Depot. But the Black Keys's' Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach aren't ready to take a time out. As Carney told CBS Local in October, the band plans to start work on their next album in January -- so, now -- before launching a spring tour. "Our plan is to have the new album done by the end of spring or earlier, then hopefully take a few months off to do normal things like go to bed early and wake up early, walk the dog, that kind of stuff. ... It [an album] is definitely gonna happen in 2013." Producer Danger Mouse, who's worked with the band since 2008's Attack & Release, is expected to oversee the disc. "I talked to him on the phone a couple weeks ago to see what his schedule is like," Carney told CBS Local. "But he's also really busy, producing so many records lately, so hopefully he has time. He's producing U2's record -- that takes priority over us!"

U2 – TBA

Yes, they're working with Danger Mouse. But then, they've reportedly recruited Will.i.am. too. In late December, The band's manager told the Irish Independent that fans should "certainly expect a new record" in 2013 and as of early January, Bono was dropping hints of the project's working title, calling U2's thirteenth studio album 10 Reasons to Exist in an interview with a Dublin radio station.

Queens of the Stone Age - TBA

Stories of a March 2013 release were stamped out by the band's management in early January. Josh Homme and co. haven't put out an LP since 2007's Era Vulgaris, though, so what's a few extra weeks? Because the sixth QOTSA record is definitely gestating -- with Dave Grohl, Trent Reznor and former bassist Nick Oliveri reportedly contributing their noisemaking expertise to the mix. As frontman Homme told BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe in late 2012: "I think this record is a little more lyrically vulnerable, but I also think it's sort of musically deeper and richer, and it's a little bit stranger."

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Arcade Fire, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Britney Spears: Music to watch for in 2013